We slept in what had become the gymnasium.
An edition of The Handmaid's Tale
(1985)
The Handmaid's Tale
First Printing (US)
by Margaret Atwood
- 82 Ratings
- 1930 Want to read
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A gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time.
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules.
Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale has endured not only as a literary landmark but as a warning of a possible future that is still chillingly relevant.
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brothels, Canadian authors, Canadian fantasy fiction, Canadian fiction (fictional works by one author), Christian fundamentalism, Dystopian fiction, Dystopias, fantasy fiction, Fiction, Fiction, dystopian, Fiction, fantasy, general, handmaids, Large type books, Man-woman relationships, Man-woman relationships, fiction, military dictatorship, Misogyny, New York Times bestseller, nyt:e-book-fiction=2017-01-22, nyt:trade-fiction-paperback=2017-02-26, Old Testament, Political, political fiction, pregnancy, religious fanaticism, revolution, science fiction, Scrabble, Social aspects, theocracy, theonomy, totalitarianism, United States Congress, Women, Study guides, History and criticism, Handmaid's tale (Atwood, Margaret), Roman canadien de langue anglaise, Misogynie, collectionID:EanesChallenge, Romans, nouvelles, Femmes, collectionID:ConroeChallenge, FICTION / Dystopian, FICTION / Political, FICTION / Science Fiction, Teen fiction, World literature, Fiction subjects, Science fiction & fantasy, Comics & graphic novels, adaptations, Comics & graphic novels, literary, Comics & graphic novels, fantasy, DystopianPeople
Margaret Atwood (1939-), Offred, Commanders, Rachel, Bilhah, Aunts, Handmaids, Marthas, Econowives, Moira, Serena Joy, Ofglen, Nick, Eyes of God, Luke, Professor PieixotoShowing 11 featured editions. View all 146 editions?
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02
La servante écarlate
2017-07, Pavillons Poche/Robert Laffont
Paperback
in French
2221203321 9782221203323
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03
The Handmaid's Tale
2016, Vintage
paperback
in English
- 2016 Vintage edition (4)
1784871443 9781784871444
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04
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05
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06
The Handmaid's Tale
2006, Everyman's Library
Hardcover
in English
- First Printing (US)
0307264602 9780307264602
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07
The Handmaid's Tale
2003?, Anchor Books
paperback
in English
- First Anchor Books Edition, April 1998 (55)
038549081X 9780385490818
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08
The Handmaid's Tale
1998-04, Anchor Books
Paperback
in English
- First Anchor Books Edition (9)
038549081X 9780385490818
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09
The Handmaid's Tale
1986, Houghton Mifflin Company
Hardcover
in English
- 1st printing
0395404258 9780395404256
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10
The Handmaid's Tale
1986, Houghton Mifflin Company
hardcover
in English
- printing (1)
0395404258 9780395404256
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11
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Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Fisher copy: Bound in original red cloth, with dust jacket.
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Work Description
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" — the ruling class of men in Gilead.
The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society, loss of female agency and individuality, and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence.
The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award.
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Links outside Open Library
- Wikipedia page
- Wikidata
- The Handmaid's Tale - Wikipedia
- sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/
- Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale feels real in 2019, but the solution won’t come from novels
- An analysis of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Handmaid's Tale | Plot, Legacy, & Facts | Britannica.com
- VIAF ID: 186154411 (Work)
- thegreatestbooks.org/items/1368
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- Created December 20, 2008
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| December 19, 2023 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| December 29, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
| January 27, 2022 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| December 31, 2021 | Edited by Lisa | added details from linked copy |
| December 20, 2008 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from University of Toronto MARC record. |